Denial
by BlackBlood1872
Summary: It had been the connection and nothing else. There was no way. He couldn't speak Parseltongue, and that was that.


It was a mental thing that held Harry Potter together. Mental denial.

He told himself that it was the Horcrux in his scar that gave him the ability. And that with the Horcrux gone... so was the Parseltongue. It had to be. Harry knew that the ability was passed down through the genes and he knew that neither of his parents were Parselmouths. No one, on either side of his family, was related to Slytherin, so the ability must have come from the scar. Which was gone.

It had to be gone.

So he did his best to avoid snakes; he couldn't allow for a chance to prove himself wrong. Deep down, he knew there was a possibility and he couldn't face that. He couldn't let himself overhear their conversations, lest he still understand them. He just... couldn't.

And he did a good job of it. Nineteen years. He was able to avoid it all for nineteen years, even though he lived in the countryside with Ginny and his family and he _knew_ there were snakes in the garden. And now he was sending off his second child, little Albus Severus, and he was still safe. Because he wasn't a Parselmouth, not anymore (_not ever, __not __legitimately_) and that was good. Perfect.

Then he saw the Malfoys.

Scorpius Malfoy was going in for his first year, Harry knew. He and Draco didn't get together as often as Harry and the Weasley's did, but they met occasionally. They'd been able to move past their school days, the war putting their petty rivalry into perspective. Draco had told him the last time they met up that he only bought the best for his son. Harry knew that the boy had gotten two pets – a regulation owl... and a snake.

Why they had to end up standing near the family, Harry honestly didn't know. He also didn't know why Draco had to see him and wave him over. Didn't the man know any better?

But he went along with it, saying, "I'll be right back, Gin," before heading over, trying not to look as nervous and frightened as he was on the inside.

Because there was a snake and if it talked, there was no escaping any more.

It'd been a nice nineteen years...

"Good morning!" Harry greeted, taking Draco's extended hand to shake. He nodded at Astoria, smiling at her, trying to show how nervous he was being here. She had been the one to notice his nerves whenever he knew a snake was near and, since she'd been at Hogwarts during the Basilisk scare, she knew how much he was trying to forget. The look he gave her now was a plea to keep this meeting as short as he could. She seemed to understand, nodding back and stepping away from the men. She had a certain smile on her face though and Harry was wary.

"Likewise," Draco returned and smirked as his eyes drifted to his son. Harry's heart plummeted. It'd been planned, he realized. Planned out so that Harry was exposed to one of those creatures, a thing so like Draco to do, so _Slytherin_, he wondered why he didn't automatically know.

"Have you met my son yet?" the blond asked, pulling said boy over gently by his shoulder.

"No," Harry admitted slowly, dread welling up inside, "This must be Scorpius, then," and he let his gaze shift, taking in the smaller form.

Scorpius was much like a carbon copy of his father; blond hair, silver eyes, and that same Malfoy stance even though he was fidgeting. It was almost unnerving. But what was even more alarming, to Harry at least, given all his effort, was the small silvery snake hanging around his shoulders, tongue flicking towards him.

Harry tried not to run screaming. It was hard to stop himself.

"Hello," the boy muttered, grey eyes nervous. Well, it was to be expected; he was talking to Harry Potter, saviour of Wizarding Britain. Harry smiled at him, and was almost able to forget the stupid animal. But it had to greet him too.

**"Hello!"** the voice was small – male, but childish. He must have been just a snakelet; bred specifically for the Malfoy heir, knowing Draco. It's tongue flicked out again, head swaying at him in what he thought might have been a snake version of a wave.

Harry tried not to flinch away, but he didn't think he succeeded.

"Potter?" Draco's eyes narrowed, looking between his worried son and the slightly trembling Harry, "Are you okay?" the words, small and almost emotionless, seemed hard for Draco to spit out, but he did it and it brought Harry back to himself.

He forced his gaze away from the snake and gave Draco a small, wavering smile, "Fine," he lied, then his voice took a sarcastic lithe, "my world just fell in on itself, no big deal,"

Draco blinked at him, then his eyes widened slightly in comprehension. And then he smirked, the bastard. Harry glared at him.

"What?" Scorpius asked, lips pressed into a thin line. Harry looked back at him, glare relaxing, and shook his head.

"I've just... I guess I avoided it as long as I could," he mumbled, which didn't give anything of an answer to the boy, but Harry ignored him. Instead, he turned back to the snake, who was watching everything with a curious air, **"Hello to you too."**

The snake looked stunned, as well as his owner, and Draco sounded like he was choking his laughter down at the sight of his son's astonished face, **"You speak!"** the snake gasped, jaw closed to hanging open. Harry chuckled. **"I've never met a Speaker!"** the snake continued, sounding about as in awe as most of his fans, who he avoided just about as much as he had snakes.

**"We're a rarity. There's not many outside of Slytherin's line, and even then, there's only a few,"** Harry explained, giving a small smile. Scorpius was fidgeting and Harry turned the smile to him as well. This seemed to be just enough motivation for the boy to speak.

"What?" Scorpius asked again, voice raising an octave. Draco lost his battle with himself and started to chortle, hidden by his hand, "What was that!"

"That, little Scorpion," Harry chuckled out, ignoring the boy's glare, "was Parseltongue. I was speaking with..." he paused, then turned to the little snake, **"What's your name?"**

**"Sacha,"** the snake mumbled, embarrassed, **"It means 'defender',"** he explained. Harry smiled.

**"I think it suits you. You'll grow into it, don't worry,"** Harry said, the snake looking hopeful. Harry looked back at Scorpius, who was looking between the two with interest, "I was talking with Sacha,"

"Sacha?" the boy whispered, uncertain. The snake looked up at the mention of his name, tongue flicking out. The smaller blond smiled at it.

"Harry!" someone called, making the man jump. Looking back, he saw Gin waving at him, looking worried. Harry smiled and waved back, to calm her nerves for now, then bade the Malfoys farewell. Draco managed to wave at him between bouts of laughter, Astoria grinning at him.

Harry made his way back to his own family, where Gin immediately pulled him into a hug. Moments later she pulled back, worrying her bottom lip. Albus was gone, probably on the train by now, and Lily was staring at them, confused by her mothers actions. Harry had to admit he was with the girl on that one.

"You were gone a while," Gin tried to use as an excuse, eyes darting to the blonds and back. Harry grinned at her, shaking his head.

"It's fine. Just..." he swallowed, smile toning down, "I guess I couldn't run from it forever," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"Run from what?" Gin was watching him, just as confused as her daughter now.

"Remember second year? Or, your first, I guess?" when she nodded, he grinned again, "It wasn't because of the connection that I could Speak,"

She looked confused for a second; the wording was purposely confusing so not to attract attention. She gaped at him after the dots connected.

"Yeah," he nodded severely. He turned back to the blonds, though it was only the adults now, the boy finally on the train, and sighed, "Sacha wanted to talk a bit," he said, smirking at them. Lily frowned at him, completely out of the circle. Gin was only slightly better, lips twitching as if she couldn't decide whether to smile or frown.

"Sacha?"

"Scorpius' pet snake," he shrugged nonchalantly, grinning at his daughters face. The girl was wide eyed as well now. Harry nodded to himself. "Which reminds me that I should get a familiar,"

Gin looked at him a moment longer, and only the sharp whistle from the train seemed to snap her out of it. She shook her head, joining her family in waving as the Express pulled out.

As they were leaving, Lily clamped onto Harry's arm, brown eyes shining, "Could you teach me?" she whispered, careful to not let Gin hear her. She didn't know what her mother would think, but given her pale face, she thought it wouldn't be good. Harry blinked at her.

"Well, it's genetic, so if you have it, you can use it. Otherwise..." he shrugged, dodging around a still family as he headed for the Apparition point. "It's not something you can learn, as far as I know. When I first spoke it, I didn't know I was saying anything but English. Now, I can hear the slight difference. Parseltongue has more of a hiss to it than English," he'd never talked about this before, either because there was no one else who understood, or who didn't fear it, or he was trying to ignore the very existence of it. Now, though...

"It's in the blood, though, right? So I might have it?" Lily was excited and Harry really didn't know why.

"You might," he commented, "but maybe not. I don't know where I got my ability from. Slytherin was the most famous Parselmouth, so everyone seems to be traced back to him, and I don't know if I am too, or what happened..." he sighed, "We'll just have to see. Pit you against a snake, or something,"

She still looked excited, though, which Harry guessed was good, but who knew. Her acceptance of the ability was lifting his spirits, so he guessed it was.

"Hang on," he instructed, entering the Apparition point. Gin nodded at him, then was gone back to their home. Lily's grip on his arm tightened and he twisted.

They landed in a heap – all pieces intact, thankfully – with Gin laughing at his side and Lily trying not to. He still didn't have much of a landing ability. At least it wasn't the Floo, he thought with a grimace as he pulled himself and his daughter up. At least with Apparition, he managed to land _upright_.

At least Draco always got a good laugh whenever Harry came over. Even if the landings were decidedly painful.

The trio headed through the yard up to their home, Lily practically bouncing. Harry smiled in response to her massive grin, trying to warm himself up to the idea of her being able to speak to snakes as well. Surprisingly, it helped ease the panic he was still feeling. If Lily was still able to smile like that after everything, maybe he could live with this after all.

He'd be sure to leave Ginny out of any future activities involving snakes, though. Harry knew what it was like to have old wounds. Regardless of that, he was going to find a way to rehabilitate her so she could actually look at things like snakes and diaries. He'd try to ease her into the idea of being in hearing range when he was speaking Parseltongue. Maybe it would even work.


End file.
